Friday, May 01, 2015

Grandma's recipe is by far the quickest and easiest way to turn these tart beauties into something truly enjoyable.
All it takes are a few rhubarb stems, eggs, flour, butter, sugar and 30 minutes bake...

Butter the bottom of your baking mold and dust it with flour; remove any excess of flour.
Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla on highest speed until creamy, 4 to 5 minutes, in a bowl with the paddle attachment of the mixer.

Turn the mixer to medium-low speed and add one egg after another, beating for about a minute after each egg.

Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the flour together with the baking powder. Don't overbeat, to prevent the batter getting chewy.

Transfer the batter to the baking mold, smooth with a spatula and arrange the rhubarb stems on top. Until this point it's the exact "Grandma" version. No extravaganzas as you already know, Grandma kept it honest and simple.

I experimented with precooking the rhubarb stems in a mixture of butter, sugar and lemon juice (one tablespoon each) for a few minutes. Don't let the rhubarb turn soft, just let it adopt the caramel flavour. Heaven!

Bake at 180°C (360°F) for about 30 minutes or until the rims turn golden brown.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Sunday, March 08, 2015

.... has been inspired by Amy Chaplin's brilliant book at home in the whole food kitchen.
Her coconut and quinoa pancakes are completely flour- and gluten-free, though unexpectedly tasty and tender. If you want to go for the vegan version just replace the egg for a "chia egg". The pancakes are prepared in a minute provided you haven't forgotten to soak the quinoa before you went to bed.

The slight citrus flavour of the pancakes went perfectly well with the fresh blood orange.

Drain and rinse quinoa and place it in an upright blender. Add oats, 1/4 cup coconut, almond milk, egg, coconut oil, vanilla, baking powder and cinnamon.
Blend on high speed for about 40 seconds or until completely smooth. Add remaining coconut and lemon zest and stir with a rubber spatula to combine.

Warm a cast iron skillet over medium heat , add about 1 teaspoon coconut oil and spoon in about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook for about 3 minutes or until surface is covered with bubbles and bottom is golden and beginning to brown. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes.

These pancakes are best right off the pan, but they can also be kept warm in a 90°C (200°F) oven as you cook the whole batch. Serve with blood orange and maple syrup.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

This beauty of a cake was given to me by lovely Cora. It is a raw vegan layered cake, a species of cake that has always intrigued me, and yet I had never tried one.

After the first taste I knew, this cake is worth all the cashews and the fridge and freezer waiting times. Yes, in fact, I am making a mini version just now for my Sunday guests. Holding my thumbs that it will be just as delicious as the original!

Soak the almonds and the dates for 6 hours or overnight. Process the almonds and the dates until it all sticks together. If you end up with a little dough ball it's fine. Press it into the bottom of a spring form and put it into the freezer for one hour.

Soak the cashews and the dates for 6 hours. Blend each layer with the salt, vanilla, lemon and one cup of the soaking water until smooth. I recommend using your Vitamix or any other high-speed blender to make the layers as creamy as possible.
Melt the cocoa butter and the coconut oil gently on low heat and blend it into the mixture.
Add the the raspberries respectively the chocolate.
Pour the raspberry layer onto the crust.
Pour the chocolate layer straightaway onto the raspberry layer. Let it set in the freezer for two hours. No longer, because you don't want the liquid to crystallize.
Put the cake into the fridge during the night to solidify.

Before serving cut along the edge to remove the ring of the spring form. Decorate with shredded coconut, fresh raspberries and dust slightly with palm sugar.

❤️

If you skip the cocoa butter and the coconut oil the mixture will make for a delicious layered cream dessert or even for an ice cream if you put it into the freezer for a few hours.

There's no limit in combining flavours: vanilla and mango, chocolate and banana, rose and mint.....

About

My name is Bärbel. I love looking at beautiful things: colours, aesthetic food and story telling interiors, wild animals and rare porcelain.
With my Canon EOS D5 I hope to show what caught my eye.
For blog and photography inquiries:
baerbelspittler@gmail.com